My society frowns at early marriage and yet pretends not to notice the prevalence of premarital sex. I am 29, with a fiancee, and a Christian. I know the pressure, but God has been helpful. If I am allowed, I will marry, but we have to wait. Please, we need encouragement to stay sexually pure.<\/p>\n\t
Though the trend is toward later marriages, I only know of a few countries that actually make it a rule to wait until your late twenties to marry. I don’t know of any country that would prevent a 29-year-old from marrying. I assume your decision to wait is for other reasons.<\/p>\n
I do understand the pressures to go ahead and have sex before marriage. I was once young myself. But as Christians, we know the dangers of that particular trap. Too often people do not stop to see the alternatives. They set themselves goal which are too high to achieve and then wonder why they failed to reach them.<\/p>\n
Sex is a wonderful thing that belongs solely to a marital relationship. So if the desire for sex is great, it is better to marry (I Corinthians 7:8-9). Paul said that even though at the time marriage would bring hardships due to persecution (I Corinthians 7:26). That life might be less than ideal is not an excuse to sin.<\/p>\n
I see people doing the same today. They put off marriage until they are out of school and into established careers. Yet the pressure for sex is high, so they give in rather than accepting the alternatives. They could get married. Yes, it would be a bit harder to finish school. They won’t be able to live quite as luxuriantly. But they discount a very important point: they won’t be sinning.<\/p>\n\t
Sir,<\/p>\n
I like your prompt response. It shows you really care about ‘our struggle.’ Well, I am Nigerian and it is not really a written law but a general perception that has influenced even the church. However, I am confident He will guide until the day is done.<\/p>\n
Thanks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: My society frowns at early marriage and yet pretends not to notice the prevalence of premarital sex. I am 29, with a fiancee, and a Christian. I know the pressure, but God has been helpful. If I am allowed, I will marry, but we have to wait. Please, we need encouragement to stay sexually…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1572,63],"class_list":["post-25817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-fornication","tag-sex"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48666,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-should-i-wait-until-marriage-to-have-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":25817,"position":0},"title":"Why should I wait until marriage to have sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Recently my boyfriend and I have been struggling with waiting until marriage to have sex or having sex before. I want to try to have sex after marriage but recently we have done oral sex to each other to satisfy the sexual urges we have. The point is, my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34345,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/before-becoming-a-christian-i-committed-fornication-many-times-my-preacher-says-i-need-to-wait-before-getting-married-isnt-it-better-to-marry-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":25817,"position":1},"title":"Before becoming a Christian, I committed fornication many times. My preacher says I need to wait before getting married. Isn’t it better to marry now?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ. I write this e-mail with great shame over myself. I committed fornication with a girl who was not my girlfriend and got her pregnant. The girl whom I got pregnant knew that I already had a girlfriend whom I was planning to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16246,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-already-made-the-decision-to-wait-until-marriage-to-have-sex-but-your-article-made-it-seem-even-more-sensible-to-wait\/","url_meta":{"origin":25817,"position":2},"title":"I already made the decision to wait until marriage to have sex, but your article made it seem even more sensible to wait","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 4, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thanks for writing the article on waiting: \"Waiting for the Proper Time.\" I'm 18 and I've already made the decision to wait to have sex before marriage, but this article provided encouragement and also made it seem more sensible to wait. People at college are asking me why I'm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1818,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-i-be-sinning-if-i-have-sex-with-my-girlfriend\/","url_meta":{"origin":25817,"position":3},"title":"Will I be sinning if I have sex with my girlfriend?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Will I be sinning if I have sex with my girlfriend? Answer: In the Greek language of the New Testament is the word\u00a0pornos. It refers to a person who has sex outside the bonds of marriage. It is most accurately translated as \"fornicator\" in English, but in some translations,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2857,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-a-man-feels-he-cannot-wait-to-have-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":25817,"position":4},"title":"What if a man feels he cannot wait to have sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What if a man cannot wait? What if a man really wants to have sex with a girl? What should the man do? Answer: \"Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, because of sexual\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40730,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-wait-three-years-to-get-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":25817,"position":5},"title":"How can I wait three years to get married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been dating my boyfriend for two and a half years now. We are both Christians and both want and work toward a marriage. We believe sex belongs in a marriage and want to keep it like this until we marry. 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